Basic tasks using a screen reader with the calendar in Outlook

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Use the calendar in Outlook 2016 with your keyboard and Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader, to do the essential basic tasks. You can also use the JAWS screen reader. You can open and edit calendar events, join online meetings, and more.

Notes:

New Office 365 features are released gradually to Office 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

In this topic

Set up your calendar view

You can set up your calendar to show a selected number of days, a work week, a full week, or a month - whichever is your preferred way of working.

In Outlook, press Ctrl+2 to open the calendar. You hear the name of the current view, for example, "Work week view."

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to select the calendar view:

Press Alt + a number key to show a number of days from 1 to 10, starting from today. For example, press Alt+0 to show 10 days.

Press Ctrl+Alt+2 to show the work week view.

Press Ctrl+Alt+3 to show the full week view.

Press Ctrl+Alt+4 to show the month view.

Open, read, and edit calendar events

In Outlook, press Ctrl+2 to open the calendar. You hear the name of the current view, for example, "Work week view," followed by the number of events in the view.

Press Ctrl+Period (.) to browse the events in the current view. For each event, you hear its name, time, and organizer. Press Ctrl+Comma (,) to move to the previous event.

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to move in the calendar:

Press Ctrl+Right or Left arrow key to move to the next or previous day.

Press Alt+Down or Up arrow key to move to the next or previous week.

Press Alt+Page down or Page up key to move to the next or previous month.

If you want to edit the currently selected event, press Enter, and then use the following keyboard shortcuts to change its details:

Press Alt+U to move the focus to the Subject field, and then use the keyboard to edit the text.

Press Alt+I to move the focus to the Location field, and then use the keyboard to edit the text.

Press Alt+T to move the focus to the Start time row. To change the start date, press the Down or Up arrow key to move the date forward or backward by a day. To change the time, press the Tab key until you hear "Start time," and then press the Down or Up arrow key to move the time forward or backward by half an hour.

Press Alt+D to move the focus to the End time row. To change the end date, press the Down or Up arrow key to move the date forward or backward by a day. To change the time, press the Tab key until you hear "End time," and then press the Down or Up arrow key to move the time forward or backward by half an hour.

To edit the description of the event, press the Tab key until you hear "Message, editing," and then use the keyboard to edit the text. With JAWS, you hear: "Notes, edit."

To save your changes, press Alt+H, A, and then V. The event window closes and the focus returns to the calendar.

Join a Skype for Business meeting from Outlook calendar

Note: To join a Skype for Business meeting as described below, make sure you have Skype for Business installed on your computer, and you're signed in with your work or school account.

In Outlook, press Ctrl+2 to open the calendar view.

The screen reader announces the view that opens, such as Work Week view or Month view, and the number of items in that view. The focus is on today.

Note: You cannot navigate today's calendar events in Month view, so if you're in Month view, first change to another view. To change to, for example, Work Week view, press Ctrl+Alt+2.

To navigate the upcoming calendar events for today, press the Tab key. To navigate to the past items, press Shift+Tab.

When you hear the meeting you want to join, press Ctrl+O. The calendar item opens.

To join the meeting, press Alt+H, Y. The Skype for Business meeting window opens. To join with full audio and video experience, press Enter.

Tips:

To mute or unmute your microphone, press the Windows Logo key+F4.

To hang up, press Ctrl+Enter.

Print your event

In Outlook, press Ctrl+2 to open the calendar. You hear the name of the current view, for example, "Work week view," followed by the number of events in the view.

Press Ctrl+Period (.) to browse the events in the current view. For each event, you hear its name, time, and organizer. Press Ctrl+Comma (,) to move to the previous event.

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to move in the calendar:

Press Ctrl+Right or Left arrow key to move to the next or previous day.

Press Alt+Down or Up arrow key to move to the next or previous week.

Press Alt+Page down or Page up key to move to the next or previous month.

To open the currently selected event, press Enter.

Press Alt+F, and then press P. The Print menu opens.

To select which printer you want to use, press I, find the printer with the Up and Down arrow keys, and then press Enter.

To print the event, press Alt+P, and then press P.

If you are printing to a file, for example, to convert the event to PDF format, type a file name, and then press Enter to create the file.

In this topic

Set up your calendar view

You can set up your calendar to show a selected day, a work week, a full week, or a month - whichever is your preferred way of working.

In Outlook, press Command+2 to open the calendar. You hear the time frame displayed.

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to select the calendar view:

Press Control+Command+1 to show the day view.

Press Control+Command+2 to show the work week view.

Press Control+Command+3 to show the full week view.

Press Control+Command+4 to show the month view.

Open, read, and edit calendar events

To keep up with your busy schedule, you can quickly read and edit event details.

Note: You can only edit events that you've created. For example, you cannot edit meeting requests that you've received from someone else.

In Outlook, press Command+2 to open the calendar. You hear the time period, and if any events are scheduled.

Depending on your view, do one of the following to move in the calendar:

To move to the next day, week, or month, press Command+Right arrow key.

To move to the previous day, week, or month, press Command+Left arrow key.

In any view, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab to browse the events for the time period displayed. As you move, VoiceOver announces the events as "<date>, <hours>, <event subject>, <event location>."

To review the event in more detail, press Spacebar. The event opens in a new window. To close the window, press Esc.

To open and edit the event, press Command+O. The event window opens, and you hear: "Now in <event subject>, <Appointment/Meeting>."

To browse the event details and options, press the Tab key. VoiceOver announces the details and options as you move.

When finished, do one of the following:

If you are editing a meeting, press Shift+Tab until you hear "Send Update button," and then press Spacebar.

If you are editing an appointment, press Shift+Tab until you hear "Save and close button," and then press Spacebar.

The event is changed and the focus moves to Calendar.

Join a Skype for Business meeting from Outlook calendar

Note: To join a Skype for Business meeting as described below, make sure you have the Skype for Business for Mac app installed on your Mac, and you're signed in with your work or school account.

In Outlook, press Command+2 to open the calendar view.

The screen reader announces the view that opens, and the number of items in that view. To navigate the events, press the Tab key. When on the event you want to open, press Command+O.

Press the Tab key to navigate the event dialog. When you reach the text area, VoiceOver announces: "Document, text" or "Message, edit text."

The link for joining the meeting is within the text. Press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow to go into the text area.

Press the Up or Down arrow key to navigate the text. When you hear "Link, Join online meeting," press Control+Option+Spacebar to select it.

If you hear "You're currently on a text element," the browser may be asking for your permission to open the Skype for Business meeting window. To allow it, use the item chooser to navigate to the Allow button. To open the item chooser, press Control+Option+I. Then press the Down arrow key until you hear: "Allow toggle button." Press Control+Option+Spacebar to move the focus to the button. Press Control+Option+Spacebar again to press the button.

The Join Meeting Audio dialog opens. To join with full audio and video experience, press Enter.

The Join Meeting Audio dialog closes, the Skype for Business meeting window opens, and you're connected to the meeting.

In this topic

Set up your calendar view

You can choose between three options to view the calendar: Agenda, Day, or 3-day view. The default option is Agenda.

Swipe right or left until you hear the current view, for example, "Agenda view," and then double-tap the screen.

A list of the view options opens. Swipe right or left until you hear the option you want, and then double-tap the screen.

Open, read, and edit calendar events

To keep up with your busy schedule, you can quickly read and edit event details.

Note: You can only edit events that you've created. For example, you cannot edit meeting requests that you've received from someone else.

In any view, swipe right until you hear the first event for the day. To browse to other events in the future, swipe up. VoiceOver announces the event title, date and time, location, and duration as you move through the events.

To review the event in more detail, double-tap the screen when on an event. The event opens in a new window.

To hear the event details, swipe right or left or slide one finger down the event details window.

To edit the event, in the event details window, swipe right or left until you hear "Edit," and then double-tap the screen. The Edit Event window opens.

Swipe right until you hear the event detail you want to edit, and then double-tap the screen and make the changes you want.

When finished, swipe right or left until you hear "Done," and then double-tap the screen.

Join a Skype for Business meeting from Outlook calendar

Note: To join a Skype for Business meeting as described below, make sure you have the Skype for Business app for iOS installed on your phone, the app is running, and you're signed in with your work or school account. To join a meeting without a work or school account, see Join a meeting as a guest.

In Outlook calendar, swipe right until you hear: "Agenda, today, <today's date>." If you have only one event for today, just double-tap the screen to open the event. If you have more events, you can browse them by swiping up or down. When on the event you want to open, double-tap the screen.

Swipe right until you hear "Join, button," and double-tap the screen. Skype for Business opens. You hear a ringing sound and you're connected to the meeting.

Tip: To move between the buttons in the meeting window, swipe right or left. To press a button, double-tap the screen.

Join a meeting as a guest

You can join a Skype for Business meeting as a guest, which means you don't sign in to Skype for Business with work or school account credentials, but you still need to have the Skype for Business app installed on your phone.

Go to Outlook calendar and swipe right until you hear: "Agenda, today, <today's date>." If you have only one event for today, just double-tap the screen to open the event. If you have more events, you can browse them by swiping up or down. When on the event you want to open, double-tap the screen.

Swipe right until you hear "Join, button," and double-tap the screen. Skype for Business opens.

Swipe right until you hear "Join Meeting, button," and double-tap the screen.

Use the on-screen keyboard to type your name as you want it to appear in the meeting. When done, navigate to the return button in the bottom-right corner of the screen, and double-tap the screen. You hear a ringing sound and you're connected to the meeting.

Respond to event reminders

If you have events scheduled in the Outlook app, if you have notifications turned on, and if VoiceOver is on, you’ll hear reminders of events at the predefined time prior to the event. The event reminder pops up on the screen. Slide your finger down in the pop-up reminder to hear the text of the event. Below the event text are buttons with various options for responding to the event. The buttons vary depending upon the type of email account you’re using. Usually, you see at least:

Use the calendar in Outlook for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to do the essential basic tasks. You can create new calendar events, read and reply to meeting requests, join online meetings, and more.

Notes:

New Office 365 features are released gradually to Office 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.

This topic assumes you are using this app with an Android phone. Some navigation and gestures might be different for an Android tablet.

In this topic

Set up your calendar view

You can choose between three options to view the calendar: Agenda, Day, or 3 Day view. The default option is Agenda.

Swipe right or left until you hear "Switch away from <current view>" and then double-tap the screen.

A list of the view options opens. Swipe right or left until you hear the option you want, and then double-tap the screen.

Open, read, and edit calendar events

To keep up with your busy schedule, you can quickly read and edit event details.

Note: You can only edit events that you've created. For example, you cannot edit meeting requests that you've received from someone else.

In any view, slide one finger across the screen until you hear the title of the event you want to open, and double-tap the screen. The event opens in a new window showing the event details.

To hear the event title, day, date, time, location, and other information, swipe right or left or slide one finger down the event details window.

To edit the event, in the event details window, swipe right or left until you hear "Edit," and then double-tap the screen. The Edit Event window opens with the on-screen keyboard open.

Swipe right or left until you hear the event detail you want to edit, and then double-tap the screen. Make the changes you want. When finished, swipe right or left until you hear "Save," and then double-tap the screen.

To close the event details window, swipe right or left until you hear "Back button," and then double-tap the screen.

Join a Skype for Business meeting from Outlook calendar

Note: To join a Skype for Business meeting as described below, make sure you have the Skype for Business for Android app installed on your phone, the app is running, and you've signed in to Skype for Business for Android with your work or school account. To join a meeting without a work or school account, see Join a meeting as a guest.

Go to your Outlook calendar. The focus is on today, and today's events are located around the middle of the screen. If there are many events, you can browse them by swiping up and down with two fingers. To go to an event, place your finger on the screen and drag it until you hear the event you want, and double-tap the screen. The meeting detail view opens.

Swipe right until you hear: "Join, button." Double-tap the screen.

The Skype for Business app opens, TalkBack announces: "Skype for Business," and you're connected to the meeting.

Tip: To move between the buttons in the meeting window, swipe right or left. To press a button, double-tap the screen.

Join a meeting as a guest

You can join a Skype for Business meeting as a guest, which means you don't sign in to Skype for Business with work or school account credentials, but you still need to have the Skype for Business app installed on your phone.

Go to your Outlook calendar. The focus is on today, and the current or next event is located in the middle of the screen. To go to the event, place your finger on the screen and drag it until you hear the meeting. If you have many meetings, swipe up with two fingers to scroll down the meeting list. When on the meeting you want to join, double-tap the screen to open the meeting detail view.

Swipe right until you hear: "Join, button." Double-tap the screen.

The Skype for Business app opens. Swipe right until you hear "Join Meeting, button," and double-tap the screen.

Use the on-screen keyboard to type your name as you want it to appear in the meeting. When done, swipe right until you hear: "Continue, button," and double-tap the screen. TalkBack announces "Skype for Business," and you're connected to the meeting.

Tip: To move between the buttons in the Skype for Business meeting window, swipe right or left. To press a button, double-tap the screen.

Respond to event reminders

If you have notifications turned on for your Outlook Calendar events, and if TalkBack is on, you’ll hear event reminders at the predefined time prior to the event.

To bring up the event reminder, swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers to open the notification shade.

Swipe right repeatedly until you hear the event details.

To open the event, double-tap the screen.

To dismiss the reminder without taking any action, place two fingers on the screen side by side and swipe right horizontally.

In this topic

Set up your calendar view

You can choose between five options to view the calendar: Agenda, Day, Week, Month, or Year view. The default option is Agenda.

Swipe up or down on the screen with one finger until you hear "Items," then swipe right or left until you hear "View button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

A list of the view options opens. Swipe right until you hear the option you want, and then double-tap the screen.

Open, read, and edit calendar events

To keep up with your busy schedule, you can quickly read and edit event details.

Note: You can only edit events that you've created. For example, you cannot edit meeting requests that you've received from someone else.

In the Agenda view, swipe up or down on the screen with one finger until you hear "Items," and then swipe right or left until you hear the first event. To browse to other events in the future, swipe right. Narrator announces the event title, date and time, location, and organizer as you move through the events.

To review the event in more detail, double-tap the screen when on an event. The event opens in a new window.

To hear the event details, swipe right or left.

To edit the event, in the event details window, swipe right or left until you hear "Edit button," and then double-tap the screen. Swipe left until you hear the event detail you want to edit, and then double-tap the screen and make the changes you want.

When finished, do one of the following:

If you are editing a meeting, swipe right until you hear "Send update button," and then double-tap the screen.

If you are editing an appointment, swipe right until you hear "Save and close button," and then double-tap the screen.

The event is changed, the event window closes, and the focus moves to the Agenda view.

Join a Skype for Business meeting from Outlook Calendar

Note: To join a Skype for Business meeting as described below, make sure you have the Skype for Business app installed on your phone, the app is running, and you've signed in to Skype for Business with your work or school account. To join a meeting without a work or school account, see Join a meeting as a guest.

Go to the Outlook Calendar app on your phone.

Swipe right until you hear today's date, and double-tap the screen.

Swipe right until you hear the meeting event you want to open, and double-tap the screen.

The event details view opens and you hear: "Details tab, item selected." Swipe right until you hear "Join online, link," and double-tap the screen.

The Skype for Business app opens. You hear "Skype for Business, transition frame pane," followed by a ding sound, and you're connected to the meeting.

Tip: To move between the buttons in the meeting window—such as mute, unmute, and end call—swipe right. To press a button, double-tap the screen.

Join a meeting as a guest

You can join a Skype for Business meeting as a guest, which means you don't sign in to Skype for Business with work or school account credentials, but you still need to have the Skype for Business app installed on your phone.

Open the Outlook Calendar app on your phone.

Swipe right until you hear today's date, and double-tap the screen.

Swipe right until you hear the meeting event you want to open, and double-tap the screen.

The event details view opens and you hear: "Details tab, item selected." Swipe right until you hear "Join online meeting," and double-tap the screen.

The Skype for Business app opens. You hear: "Skype for Business, transition frame pane." Swipe right until you hear "Join as a guest, button," and double-tap the screen.

Swipe right until you hear "Enter your name," and double-tap the screen. Using the on-screen keyboard, type your name as you want it to appear in the meeting.

When done, navigate to the enter button in the bottom-right corner of the keyboard, and double-tap the screen. You hear "Transition frame," followed by a ding sound, and you're connected to the meeting.

Tip: To move between the buttons in the meeting window, swipe right or left. To press a button, double-tap the screen.

Print your calendar

Print a selected day, week, or calendar month in Outlook Calendar.

In any calendar view, swipe up or down on the screen with one finger until you hear "Items," then swipe right or left until you hear "More options button collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.

Swipe right until you hear "Print button," and then double-tap the screen. The Print View dialog opens with the focus on the printing view option. You hear: "<current view selection>, read-only combobox."

To choose the print view, double-tap the screen, and then swipe right until you hear the view you want, and then double-tap to select.

To select the dates where the view starts, swipe right until you hear "From" and the default date, and then double-tap the screen to open the drop-down calendar. Swipe right or left to browse the dates, and then double-tap the screen to select.

To open the print dialog, swipe right until you hear "Preview," and then double-tap the screen.

Swipe right to browse the printing options. When done, swipe right until you hear "Print button," and then double-tap the screen. The calendar is printed.

Use the calendar in Outlook Web App with your keyboard and Narrator, the built-in Windows screen reader, to do the essential basic tasks. You can open and edit calendar events, join online meetings, and more.

Notes:

New Office 365 features are released gradually to Office 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Windows screen reader, Narrator. To learn more about using Narrator, go to Complete guide to Narrator.

This topic assumes you are using this app with a PC. Some navigation and gestures might be different for a Windows phone or tablet.

When you use Outlook Web App, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Outlook Web App runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not Outlook Web App.

In this topic

Set up your calendar view

You can set up your calendar to show a selected day, a work week, a full week, or a month - whichever is your preferred way of working.

In Outlook, press Ctrl+Shift+2 to open the calendar. Narrator announces: "Loaded <number of events> events in one selected calendar."

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to select the calendar view:

Press Shift+Alt+1 to show the day view.

Press Shift+Alt+2 to show the work week view.

Press Shift+Alt+3 to show the full week view.

Press Shift+Alt+4 to show the month view.

Open, read and edit calendar events

To keep up with your busy schedule, you can quickly read and edit event details.

Note: You can only edit events that you've created. For example, you cannot edit meeting requests that you've received from someone else.

In Outlook, press Ctrl+Shift+2 to open the calendar. You hear: "Loaded <number of events> events in one selected calendar."

Depending on your view, do one of the following to move in the calendar:

To move to the next day, week, or month, press Ctrl+Shift+Right arrow key.

To move to the previous day, week, or month, press Ctrl+Shift+Left arrow key.

In any view, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab to browse the events for the time period displayed. As you move, Narrator announces the events as "Event from <date>, <hours>, <event title>, <event location>, <organizer>."

To review the event in more detail, or open the event to edit it, press Enter. The event Details window opens. You hear: "Add a title for the event."

To browse the event details and options, press the Tab key. Narrator announces the details and options as you move.

When finished, do one of the following:

If you are editing a meeting, press Shift+Tab until you hear "Send button," and then press Enter.

If you are editing an appointment, press Shift+Tab until you hear "Save button," and then press Spacebar.

If you didn't change anything in the event, to close the event Details window, press Esc.

The event is changed, and the focus moves to Calendar.

Join a Skype for Business meeting from Outlook calendar

In Outlook on the web, press Ctrl+Shift+2 to open the calendar.

Press the Tab key repeatedly until you hear the event you want to join, and press Enter to open the event.

To join with full audio and video experience, press Enter. The Join Meeting Audio dialog closes and you're connected to the meeting.

Tip: To mute or unmute your microphone while in the meeting, press the Windows Logo key+F4. To hang up, press Ctrl+Enter.

Set options for your calendar

In the calendar settings, you can change the appearance of your calendar or choose to receive notifications. You can also modify your out-of-office messages and how you want to send them.

In Outlook, to open the Settings pane, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Use the Down arrow to use the Setting pane," and then press the Down arrow key.

To navigate between the available settings in the pane, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab. Narrator announces the settings as you move through the pane.

To select a setting or open further options from a setting, press Enter. To move between settings, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab.

When done, to exit the Settings pane, press Esc.

Print your calendar

Print out a selected day, week, or calendar month in Outlook.

In Outlook, press Ctrl+Shift+2 to open the calendar.

Select the calendar view you want to print.

In the Calendar main window, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab, until you hear: "New button collapsed." Then press the Right arrow key until you hear "Print button" and press Spacebar. A print pre-view opens, and you hear: "Print."

To open the print dialog, press Spacebar. The dialog opens with the focus on the Printer combo box.

To choose a printer, press Spacebar, then press the Down arrow key until you hear the name of the printer you want to use. To select, press Spacebar.

Press the Tab key or Shift+Tab to browse other printing options. When done, press the Tab key until you hear "Print button," and then press Spacebar. The calendar is printed.

Technical support for customers with disabilities

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